likebyregina There is a new dimsum place opening near my house, so we decided to try it out. It is right next to the new T&T Supermarket on Kingsway and Nanaimo Street, and it is called New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant. It offers dimsum and dinner service. As there are not much Chinese restaurants in that neighborhood, it is always packed. We made a reservation for four people for 12 pm on a Saturday and waited for 45 minutes before we get seated.
At every dimsum place, the receptionist is the most important person because they are the “defender” of the restaurant. They greet guests, organize all tables, and please VIP guests, as well as bad-tempered ones. So while we were waiting for our tables, I noticed that the receptionist at New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant is probably the most disorganized and overwhelmed one I have ever seen. They don’t have a separate list for reservations and walk-ins, so reservations really mean nothing in this case. Although this sounds like every other Chinese restaurants, they can definitely be more organized. I can hear guests complaining about how they allow VIP guests to get in before them.
The interior is similar to Fortune Terrace Chinese Cuisine – classy, with high ceilings, velvet chairs, and a huge LED TV at the front. It is relatively less spacious.
Dimsum is categorized into small ($4.98), medium ($5.98), large ($6.98), special ($7.98), and top ($9.88). However, I don’t see any dimsum categorized as small on the menu, and they are mostly large or special.
What We Tried
Steamed Prawn Dumplings (L) comes in 4 pieces, which is perfect to share. The skin is good and nicely thin, with a good proportion of shrimp filling.
Steamed Beef Tripe in Special Sauce (L) is unexpectedly smaller than normal size. It only have a few pieces, and they are rubbery. Although the special sauce is flavourful, it is not soaked into the beef tripe, which makes the tripe bland.
Ethan and I enjoyed the Steamed Chicken Feet in Special Sauce (M). Although the first batch comes with a hair, the manager immediately gives us a new, steaming hot one. The chicken feet is the best when it is marinated properly.
I started to see these animal-shaped Egg Yolk Steamed Buns (L) in many Chinese restaurants, and these are panda style. The bread is soft, with a decent amount of egg yolk inside. Make sure to eat them when it is still steaming hot, so the egg yolk remains runny.
Deep Fried Minced Pork with Shrimp and Dried Turnip Dumplings (L) has barely any filling. The skin is chewy and good though.
Crispy Rose Honey Sweet Potato Swan (T) is another instagrammable dish, but it doesn’t taste as good as it looks. Although the sweet potato filling is flavorful, the puff pastry is heavy and thick. The rose and honey flavor is also lacking.
We also ordered a Fried Rice in the end. It has egg white, pine nuts, dried scallops, and diced greens. Unfortunately, it is the saddest fried rice I have ever eaten. There are barely any egg whites and dried scallops. It is basically fried rice with mixed greens, with a touch of pine nuts. It is also flavorless.
Overall Impression
The food quality definitely does not justify the pricing. Although New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant has a nice interior, it is less spacious. Some guests around us are complaining on how small the table is, while two people are sitting at a spacious 4-seat table. The restaurant is poorly managed, and I think the dimsum here needs improvement. There are definitely better dimsum places out there, so I would not waste time on this one!
Taste : 2.5/5 • Service: 2.5/5 • Ambiance: 3.5/5 • Quality-Price: 2.5/5
| New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant |
Oh no! What a shame. I quite like going out for instagrammable food, but not if it doesn’t taste as good as it looks. I guess we won’t be going here as a group of yelpers!
Yaaah, I like the one you guys went before – Fortune Terrace in Richmond!